"I had an awesome time"
"Mom, I'm hungry and I'm out of money"
That was music to my ears!! My tense shoulders dropped and I smiled. Yuna ran off as she had other students to tend to. Miss Kim, who Naysia had been walking with, came over to introduce herself. While she did not stay for the entire trip she had escorted the children there and back. Part of her duties that day were to make sure Naysia made it to Terminal 2 for her Southwest flight to Phoenix. Dr. Moon obviously relieved her of that duty since I was there. She shared her good wishes and I thanked her for taking care of my girl.
I had so many questions to ask, but Naysia first had to say goodbye to her new friends. There was a large group of students behind us. She made her way over and I began to follow her, but stopped. She needed that moment alone. I stood in the corner and watched her interactions, mesmerized by her as she loved on her new friends. She has become an incredible young lady. She made her way back to me with tears in her eyes.
We negotiated the carrying of bags and slowly made our way, by foot, to Terminal 2. As we strolled we were arm in arm. I wanted to know everything! (I'll address specific topics in a later post). She talked about the flight, food, weather, people, buildings, museums, bugs, money, cosmetics, roommate, clothes, the city and the countryside.
We had a 3 hour wait ahead of us. Once we got our tickets and checked luggage we got some lunch. At the table not only did we eat, but go through her 1405 pictures and videos. I've never seen her so fired up. I did not want the moment to end. We were able to find an empty row of seats near the tail of the plane. I was certain she would sleep, but gratefully she did not. We continued to talk, and soon after we started the gentleman next to her began to chime in as well.
The flight was great until we neared Phoenix. There was turbulence, and lots of it. Everytime the plane shook she grabbed my arm tighter with her right hand. On the left side she grabbed the arm rest. The gentleman would kindly bring up a topic in an attempt to ease her fears. As we looked at the window the turbulence creator was apparent....what I was most afraid would happen, a haboob on the horizon.
Once luggage was claimed we went outside and were hit by a blast of hot wind and sand. We walked against the wind with our eyes squinted to the blue diamond shuttle pick up and were sitting in good ole Lance within 10 minutes. I was hoping that the haboob had already gone over I-10. We jumped on the freeway. The Wild Horse Pass exit was in my rear view; but in front of us cars began to disappear into the dreaded dust storm. What are we gonna do now????
I was scared. Quickly I pulled over but could not remember. Are the lights left on? Off? Blinkers? I wish I had paid more attention to the 10 o'clock news. I was on the verge of crying. All I could envision was a car slamming into the back of us, or a side swipe. Ugh!!!
But my little Naysia, wide awake, with a grin on her face says, "Mom, it's going to be fine. Let's just sit here and talk some more. It's actually kind of fun, like an adventure"
For 30 minutes or so we sat, and talked. And as I pulled onto the freeway and cruised home all I could think about is how very fortunate I am to have her.
Later we learned the haboob knocked out power for about 9000 in Phoenix, and the airport was shut down for nearly an hour. We made it in just in time.
Later we learned the haboob knocked out power for about 9000 in Phoenix, and the airport was shut down for nearly an hour. We made it in just in time.
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